sp100 aluminum

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I have an sp100 and need to repair a small hole in an aluminum motorcycle case. I ha ve a small spool of Lincolin .030 aluminum wire. Is it possible to do the job with my welder and if so what mods do I need to do to my machine to weld with this?
Reply:I am into welder repair and don't do much welding myself, but If I had an aluminum motorcycle part, I would try to find a really good, experienced TIG welder to fix it.Aluminum is very sensitive to any kind of contamination of the metal.  If it's not prepared and cleaned properly, especially if it is an oil tank or crankcase, you could end up with a nasty mess.I'm sure one of the many aluminum welding experts will be by soon to to give you better advice.Cheers,
Reply:I take it that this is an "I dont know" response to my question.
Reply:I think tig would be a better choice.  How big is the hole?  Pencil, dime or pinhead?DennisThermal Arc 185-TSWMillermatic Challenger 172VictorO/AAtlas Craftsman 12 by 24 LatheEsab PCM-875Wholesalem Tool Mill-Drill
Reply:after removing the engine tearing it down and having it tig welded I was left with a pin hole . After all the time and money spent to get to this piont. I am going to repair it myself. I plan to change out the cases next spring but am going to just plug the hole for now
Reply:Originally Posted by jerricudaI take it that this is an "I dont know" response to my question.
Reply:Everything that BobC said, plus: I believe that your machine is simply to small for a motorcyle crankcase. While it is true that Lincoln says you can add an aluminum kit which is comprised of a teflon liner, different roller and so forth and changing to pure argon, you simply won't have enough power to do much to that crankcase. It's awfully hard to generalize on this website wihtout getting your head knocked off, but I would think that TIG would be the ideal choice for motorcycle parts. I do some aluminum welding on Harley parts such as primary drive cases, transmission cases and crankcases and I would always use TIG after preheating the part for a while. It's certainly possible to weld your crankcase with MIG, it's just that a 220VAC machine would be needed in my humble opinion. You're going to need more than 100 amps to do a good job. I use a 250 amp Lincoln tramsformer machine and it's usually pretty well cranked up for a casting such as you are talking about. I'll put on my flame suit now and wait for the MIG folks to speak to the topic. I'm sure they'll tell me that MIG is better, ideal, etc. Last edited by gnm109; 09-04-2006 at 12:02 PM.
Reply:Sorry Bob I didnt mean to offend you, As I am able to do the weld myself and was only asking for some technical information about the welding machines capability to run aluminum wire, not an opinion as to who should do the weld or how tuff it will be. My mistake, I should have been more clear with my question.
Reply:Thanks Gnm109, Thats more of the info that I was looking for.
Reply:Originally Posted by jerricudaThanks Gnm109, Thats more of the info that I was looking for.
Reply:it can be done with mig   but i would practice on some scrap before u do the case .. but i  would try the   j-b  or something else unless you have welded alum.  i do tig every day and have done cases it  best to tig because of the heat control  mig is tuff to use to fix holes  but if you gona change out case   try a  good epoxy first  unless it has pressure under it
Reply:Use the JB Weld like suggested above. I have fixed some big cracks in dirtbike crankcases with it. After JB-weld, I went right back to abusing the hell out of the bikes with no problems.
Reply:Originally Posted by jerricudaSorry Bob I didnt mean to offend you...